Uda Walawe

Trip Report Sri Lanka 2003

Simon Plat, Maaike Poppinga
Dates: 24-02-2003 till 13-03-2003
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Uda Walawe National Park

Location: Uda Walawe NP lies in the dry south easter part of the island, about 4-5 hours drive from Colombo.

Costs: The entrance to the park cost us Rs4190/-, including guide, excluding a 4-WD with driver. This 4-WD cost us an additional Rs1600/-.

Date(s): 28-02 (town) and 01-03-2004 (park) (8 birding hours)

Notes: Uda Walawe NP was the least interesting park we visited. We did find a few good birds here but that was about it. The environment is not very inspiring (lots of Indian Peafowl though) and the rules are rather tight. The driver was not interested in wildlife at all, making phonecalls with is cellphone most of the time. The guide was determent to show us elephants and other large mammals, and Sunil was sick that day. I can't get used to birding from a car, not being allowed to get out.

You can also watch birds from the road, leading out of Uda Walawe town to the dam that forms the artificial lake. This is about 2 km walk from our hotel (see itinerary) .

Highlights: Grey-headed Fish-Eagle (2), Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon (V), Grey-bellied Cuckoo (2), Sirkeer Malkoha (2), Malabar Pied-Hornbill (4), Yellow-crowned Woodpecker (1), Rufous-winged Lark (V), Yellow-eyed Babbler (V), Black-headed Munia (XX).

Pics:

	A pond in Uda Walawe NP with Water Buffalo.
This was the largest group of Indian Elephants we saw. We were not even in the park but saw them from the dam, pretty close to the village Uda Walawe.
	Coppersmith Barbet, common but charming.
View of the Uda Walawe river at a spot where you are allowed to leave the car to walk around a bit. In the background the Horton Plains are visible.
	The silhouette of a Malabar Pied Hornbill in morning light. Uda Walawe might be your best chance in Sri Lanka for this species with a restricted range: Sri Lanka and the southern parts of India.
A Monitor Lizard crossing a road is a familiair sighting in Sri Lanka. If necessary they can put on a surprising spurt.

Bird List:

Column 1: S= endemic species; R=endemic race/subspecies
Column 2: N=Near-threatened; V=Vulnerable

	V	Pelecanus philippensis	Spot-billed Pelican	1
		Phalacrocorax fuscicollis	Indian Cormorant	V
		Phalacrocorax niger	Little Cormorant	X
		Ardea cinerea	Grey Heron	V
		Ardeola grayii	Indian Pond-Heron	X
		Bubulcus ibis	Cattle Egret	XX
		Egretta alba	Great Egret	V
		Egretta garzetta	Little Egret	V
		Mesophoyx intermedia	Intermediate Egret	V
	N	Mycteria leucocephala	Painted Stork	V
		Accipiter badius	Shikra	2
		Circus pygargus	Montagu's Harrier	3
		Elanus caeruleus	Black-winged Kite	2
		Haliastur indus	Brahminy Kite	V
	N	Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus	Grey-headed Fish-Eagle	2
R		Spilornis cheela spilogaster	Crested Serpent-Eagle	2
R		Spizaetus cirrhatus ceylanensis	Changeable Hawk-Eagle	2
		Falco tinnunculus	Common Kestrel	2
S		Gallus lafayetii	Ceylon Junglefowl	2
		Pavo cristatus	Indian Peafowl	XX
		Perdicula asiatica	Jungle Bush-Quail	V
		Amaurornis phoenicurus	White-breasted Waterhen	V
		Himantopus himantopus	Black-winged Stilt	V
		Charadrius dubius	Little Ringed Plover	1
		Vanellus indicus	Red-wattled Lapwing	V
		Tringa glareola	Wood Sandpiper	2
		Tringa hypoleucos	Common Sandpiper	V
		Tringa nebularia	Common Greenshank	V
		Tringa stagnatilis	Marsh Sandpiper	2
		Chlidonias hybriduS	Whiskered Tern	XX
		Sterna nilotica	Gull-billed Tern	1
R		Chalcophaps indica robinsoni	Emerald Dove	1
		Columba livia	Rock Pigeon	XX
		Ducula aenea	Green Imperial-Pigeon	V
R		Streptopelia chinensis ceylonensis	Spotted Dove	X
R		Treron bicincta leggei	Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon	V
		Psittacula krameri	Rose-ringed Parakeet	X
		Cacomantis passerinus	Grey-bellied Cuckoo	2
		Centropus sinensis	Greater Coucal	V
		Eudynamys scolopacea	Asian Koel	V
		Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii	Sirkeer Malkoha	2
		Apus affinis	Little Swift	X
		Collocalia unicolor	Indian Swiftlet	V
		Cypsiurus balasiensis	Asian Palm-Swift	V
		Hemiprocne coronata	Crested Treeswift	V
		Alcedo atthis	Common Kingfisher	1
		Halcyon smyrnensis	White-throated Kingfisher	V
		Merops orientalis orientalis	Little Green Bee-eater	X
		Merops philippinus	Blue-tailed Bee-eater	V
		Coracias benghalensis indica	Indian Roller	1
	N	Anthracoceros coronatus	Malabar Pied-Hornbill	4
		Megalaima haemacephala	Coppersmith Barbet	2
		Megalaima zeylanica	Brown-headed Barbet	V
		Dendrocopos mahrattensis	Yellow-crowned Woodpecker	1
		Pitta brachyura	Indian Pitta	1
		Alauda gulgula	Oriental Skylark	V
r?		Mirafra assamica ceylonensis	Rufous-winged Lark	V
R		Hirundo daurica hyperythra	Red-rumped (Sri Lanka) Swallow	V
		Hirundo rustica (incl. gutteralis)	Barn Swallow	XX
		Anthus richardi	Richard's Pipit	2
		Anthus rufulus	Paddyfield Pipit	V
		Dendronanthus indicus	Forest Wagtail	3
		Motacilla flava	Yellow Wagtail	V
		Coracina melanoptera	Black-headed Cuckooshrike	1
R		Iole indica guglielmi	Yellow-browed Bulbul	X
R		Pycnonotus cafer cafer	Red-vented Bulbul	XX
R		Pycnonotus luteolus insulae	White-browed Bulbul	X
		Aegithina tiphia multicolor	Common Iora	2
		Chloropsis aurifrons	Golden-fronted Leafbird	2
		Lanius cristatus cristatus	Brown Shrike	V
r?		Copsychus saularis ceylonensis	Oriental Magpie-Robin	V
R		Saxicoloides fulicata leucoptera	Indian Robin	X
R		Chrysomma sinense nasale	Yellow-eyed Babbler	V
R		Turdoides affinis taprobanus	Yellow-billed Babbler	XX
		Acrocephalus dumetorum	Blyth's Reed-Warbler	1
		Cisticola juncidis	Zitting Cisticola	V
		Phylloscopus nitidus	Green Leaf Warbler	2
R		Prinia inornata insularis	Plain Prinia	V
R		Prinia socialis brevicauda	Ashy Prinia	V
		Terpsiphone paradisi paradisi	Asian Paradise-Flycatcher	V
R		Terpsiphone paradisi ceylonensis	Asian Paradise-Flycatcher	V
R		Dicaeum erythrorhynchos ceylonense	Pale-billed Flowerpecker	1
R		Nectarinia zeylonica zeylonica	Purple-rumped Sunbird	V
		Lonchura malacca	Black-headed Munia	XX
R		Acridotheres tristis melanosternus	Common Myna	XX
R		Oriolus xanthornus ceylonensis	Black-hooded Oriole	V
		Corvus macrorhynchos	Large-billed Crow	X
		Corvus splendens	House Crow	X

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